Assessing Walking Speed as the Vital Sign for Function

Brief outline (Detailed outline)

Walking speed is a powerful indicator of functional status for patients with varying diagnoses, however it is not routinely employed by the physical therapists. We will discuss the importance of assessing walking speed, how to assess and interpret it, and differences across diagnoses.

Objectives

• Discuss the rationale for and importance of using self-selected walking speed as a 'vital sign' for function.
• Describe a strategy for examination of self-selected walking speed that will be feasible to integrate in their particular clinical practice setting.
• Describe key clinimetric properties of walking speed as a measure of current function, outcome measure, and predictor of future function in the population of patients typically seen in their practice setting.

Organiser

Stacy Fritz (United States of America)

I received my Bachelor of Health Science and Master of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of Kentucky in 1997.  In 2004, I graduated from the University of Florida with my PhD in Rehabilitation Science. I am a licensed Physical Therapist and Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina.  My main research focus is intensive interventions for individuals with chronic neurological disability, and my work is funded by NIH, American Heart Association, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  One of my main publication areas is the use of appropriate outcome measures to quantify physical therapy interventions.  This interest area aligned me with Pamela Duncan, PT, PhD, one of the leaders in the PT field, to start a campaign to teach Physical Therapists across the world the importance of using walking speed as a vital sign.  I describe myself as a researcher and an educator.  To me, those two words are almost synonymous.  At the University of South Carolina, my goals as an educator are to instill in my students a link between the clinical and research world. I view my laboratory as an extension of the classroom in which students are actively involved in my research.  My hopes are that as my students enter the clinical work force, they will question the theory and research of conventional and emerging therapies and understand the evolution of treatment that has contributed to the field of rehabilitation and integrate this into their own clinical practice.

Speaker

Pamela Duncan (United States of America)

Dr. Duncan has actively participated in and contributed to physical therapist practice, physical therapist professional education,  national policy development related to rehabilitation after stroke and aging, and scientific investigation. She has served several government appointments and provides leadership within several organizations. She served as co-chair of the Consensus Panel on Establishing Guidelines for Stroke Rehabilitation for the Agency for Health Care Policy, Research, and Education.

Dr. Duncan's research activities focus on geriatric rehabilitation, stroke rehabilitation, and health outcomes measurement. She developed the Functional Reach Test, used to assess balance in older adults. In the past 20 years, she has received more than $13 million in research awards as principal investigator or co-investigator from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, American Heart Association, Department of Veteran's Affairs, and National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research and from multiple private funding sources. Dr. Duncan has disseminated her research findings in more than 80 peer-reviewed articles in 20 different journals, and she has written a book and 12 book chapters.

Dr. Duncan's work has influenced the care and rehabilitation of patients in the United States and worldwide. Physical therapy education programs across the country incorporate her findings and professional vision into the preparation of the next generation of physical therapists.

APTA has awarded Dr. Duncan the Marian Williams Award for Research in Physical Therapy, the Catherine Worthingham Fellowship Award, and the Mary McMillan Scholarship Award.

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Programme subject to change.